Random Tid Bits

1. We've had these crazy flies in our house. I don't know if they came in because a certain son left the door hanging open for too long, or possibly they were drawn to our tomato plants outside our front porch.
   
   They fly around in circles, hardly land, and are fairly small. All the above makes them hard to tackle with a fly swatter. Isaak and I get really serious about getting these flies out of our house. 


2. I let the boys have a friend over yesterday. Mica's much more mature with his friends than Isaak is. Isaak and his friends have a low attention span, anything that's remotely funny is hysterical to them. That includes Isaak hoping around on one foot. Let's just say alone I like Isaak and his friend Jacob. Together I was annoyed by their giggles. Possibly it could be that my nose was bothering me more on Thursday then it was on Wednesday. I just wanted to nap, but couldn't because 2 kids were over.
   
   Prior to Jacob coming over I talked with Isaak about what they could do:
   
   Go outside to play, play with Legos, draw, write a story together, play a board game, do a craft with my help and lastly play on Isaak's Kindle.
   
   I went to lay down in my room, not to sleep, just to rest. The boys were playing with lots of giggles. Nothing harmful. I heard them saying, "What do we do about all this glue?" I went into the living room, and they were attempting to make paper bowls by themselves. Paper and glue all over! I took over their, "Project" with a disapproval face, and they went outside to play. So much for Isaak and I doing this, "together"!





Source






3. I started out helping the boys with their paper bowls, but the door bell rang. I had Isaak get it. I thought it may have been Mica's friend's parent or sibling to pick him up. NOPE! It was some missionary smuck!
   
   They said, "Can we come in to talk?"
   
   I said, "Absolutely not! I just had sinus surgery, my fingers of full of craft glue, and my kids each have a friend over. Now is not a good time!"
   
   Goodness I forgot about that kind of crap, since I usually work during the day. Maybe I should have invited them in to help me with the paper bowls. Ha!
   
   They said, "When would be a good time to come back?" I said, "Ummm...never."
   
   They said, "Can we leave some of our papers?"
   
   I said, "Sure if you just want me to throw them in the recycle bin." Off they left! That's when I told the boys to go outside to play.


4. Mica's job volunteer time at the library is going better. for 2 weeks they had him stock books for 1/2 the time. The other 1/2 of his time was spent collecting zip codes for their Read to a Dog Program. People come up to read to trained dogs. When they come up to do that Mica just asks for their zip code. He loves it! He's even read to the dogs too. 


5. Many of you that have been long time readers know that Mica was born with a cyst under his tongue. One side of his tongue was paper thin at birth. The normal side looked fat. That made breastfeeding interesting! He had to get an MRI at 2 months to see if he had any cysts anywhere else, which he didn't. We had many unnecessary office visits over his tongue. I actually told one ENT, "Sorry we're not coming back." We were told that he may never eat or talk. It became an issue again when he was 7 months, and got a staph infection in his neck from an ear infection on that same side. Well his tongue will never look perfect. It will always be asymmetrical. It looks way better than it did when he was born!
   
   Mica did a genetic test for school earlier this year. Eye color, attached lobes, and rolling your tongue were among the things he asked about. I said, "Mica we can roll our tongues, but you may never be able to because of how your tongue was at birth."
   
   Mr. Mica can roll his tongue now:

 Can you roll your tongue? Do you have attached ear lobes? What color are your eyes?

The Bookworm

I've quickly realized that I can't get a lot done during these days off. I have both boys with me this week, and taking a shower seems like a task in its self.

I had one plan today, and one plan only:

That was to go to The Bookworm.

I had a roommate in college that married a guy (he also went to college with us). Anyhow they both worked at Hallmark, and he just wrote and illustrated his first or second graphic novel called Time Shifters with Scholastic. He came from KC to Omaha to sign books. Of course knowing that I was off work I wanted to go buy his book, and get it signed.

Sounds easy enough right?

On any normal day it would be easy to trot over to a local bookstore to get a book signed.

Remember taking a shower is a task in my mind.

Here's how my day really went:

• Made breakfast for our family of four.
• Played Scrabble with Mica. He hated that game before my surgery. Now he wants to play it every day. It went from him being a sore loser to being a good sport. 
• Took a shower.
• Got lunch prepared, and did the dishes.
• Did a load of laundry. I showed the boys how. 
• I made Mica get the laundry, then we put it away together. 

This is when the bad thing happened. A wool dryer ball was in the basket. It flipped out of a shirt, and rolled onto the floor. I said, "Mica can you please get that dryer ball for me." He went to throw it into the basket, which instead hit my upcycled nose that I just had surgery on - straight on.

I started to cry uncontrollably. It just hit that part of my nose that brought tears on. I snapped big time. I know he didn't mean it. Time and time again I've told him not to throw ice packs at me. Just hand them to me!

After getting after him with tears flowing down my face he started to cry. Again I know he didn't mean it. He's just so unaware of how big he is, and how awkward his throwing skills are.

After getting over that, which took awhile. Boy did it sting! I tried to be positive.

I thought...I'm feeling pretty good today I'll text my sister to see if she can meet me at The Bookworm. It was right by her house. Of course her son that has special needs had physical therapy, I was taken wrong, and all the sudden I was taking my two year old nephew Edison with us. Oh boy did I not want to deal with a car seat!

• Off to my nephew's I went.

I got there and said to the older two that are the same ages as my son's, "Hey do you guys want to go?" My boys along with the cousins their ages walked to the bookstore with Edison in an umbrella stroller, while I drove slowly to watch them. Ha! The car was moving like a snail through a residential area! Luckily the bookstore is close. Not close enough for me to feel really motivated to walk there after having surgery though.

• We were off to The Bookworm.

We picked up 2 books that are now signed: 

1 for my kids and 1 for my nephews.

Here's where I had to get after my kids. They couldn't understand why they couldn't each get the same book. They really couldn't understand why I was sharing one of their coupons with their cousins. They earned it through their library reading program. Well I could have gotten this book at a cheaper price on Amazon with Prime shipping. Kids don't get this sort of thing.

I thought about getting Edison a children's book by a different author/illustrator, but he's 2. He was just excited to get all the free Scholastic stuff.

Even I like the free stuff! We got paper masks, glasses, stickers, button pins, and the boys got to spin a wheel to get a free something or rather. All of them won a Harry Potter poster except one that won a journal.

Two boys rode back with me, while the others walked back. Did I mention it's hot here? It's good for them!

My oldest nephew Evan said in regards to my nephew Elijah that's Isaak's age, "You know it's good Elijah's walking. He needs the exercise. He's been eating so much! He hardly plays basketball right now." I was cracking up inside. Elijah's really pretty skinny!

I came home and wanted to crash, but instead we went out to dinner.

I think today made up for yesterday where I slept off and on all day, and never got out of my pjs.

What did you do today?

Superhero Fitness Tee Shirt Review

Mica's always been such a superhero fan. I was super excited to get a superhero tee shirt to review at BruneiStore: https://mybruneistore.com/free-shipping-2016-t-shirt-supermanbatmanspider-mancaptain-america-hulkiron-man-t-shirt-men-fitness-shirts-men-t-shirts

They have 23 designs to choose from. I wanted the shirt to be a surprise, so I picked out a Captain America shirt. 

It's Patriotic: 

Red, White, Blue with stars and stripes. Happy Fourth of July!

He later told me that they have another Captain America shirt he would have picked. He must like this one though. He took off the shirt he was wearing, threw it on the couch, and wore this one for the rest of the day.

Sizes: 

• Extra Small
• Small
• Medium
• Large
• Extra Large
• Extra, Extra Large
• Extra, Extra, Extra Large
• Extra, Extra, Extra, Extra Large

That may seem crazy that they go up that much in sizing. It is Asian sizing, so their shirts run small. I got Mica an Adult Medium thinking it would be a bit big. Nope! It fits just right. If you go buy one, buy up a size or 2 if you're buying for someone that is growing like a weed - like Mica is.

This shirt will fit Mica throughout the fall. Then it might be Isaak's, who is also growing like a weed.

Cost: 

$29.99, but it's on sale for $24.99. They have free shipping worldwide on their site. If you have a PayPal account, you can check out through them.

Design: 

I love that the design is on the front, back and side of their shirts. They are all that way!

So readers what's your favorite superhero? I liked my Wonder Woman Underroos, watching Superman - Christopher Reeve growing up, then when I got older I enjoyed Spider-Man - Toby Maguire. After that I lost interest. Too many superhero movies out there for me.

My boys like it all though. They even saw Wonder Woman with their leadership camp, when I haven't.

Happy Fourth of July!

Disclaimer: I received a discount on this tee shirt to help write this review. The company in no way influenced me in writing this.

Recovery Update

This recovery business isn't fun, but I keep reminding myself: Alissa you can see and you don't have meningitis. Those were my two biggest fears.

So...what does it feel like after having a major nose surgery? 

Well I don't look too bad, so looking in the mirror is positive. 

It feels like I have a rug burn inside my nose. I read that online I think it's a pretty accurate description. 

I can't blow my nose for 3 weeks. You know I'm an allergy sufferer, so I'm used to blowing my nose often, very often. Well when I do fall asleep I wake up to a dried crusty nose. If you ever have this type of surgery word of advice: Wet baby washcloths to clean out the tip of your nose is the best. They are soft. Sometimes I stick them in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes because cold anything feels good!

The first few days of healing, blood was dripping from my nose a lot. It was hard to ice it with gauze, a tissue, or baby wash cloth stuck to the end of my nose. Now it's not bleeding so much. The swelling isn't as bad as I thought. I really thought I'd have black and blue under my eyes even. Polyps went that far. Yes my nose is swollen a bit. Ice packs help so much! I just hate when I get them out, and forget about them. Small bags of frozen peas work as well.

My throat hurts bad off and on to swallow. It's from the breathing tube mainly. I wish I could just shake this one. I've tried vinegar in water, lemon and ginger in tea, water, Sprite (just because the bubbles feel nice going down), popsicles and sorbet. The best things: Anything cold! Popsicles and sorbet win! 

Pain Meds:

I've really taken Tylenol mostly. You can't take anything with Aspirin in it due to the fact that it is a blood thinner. Plus I'm allergic to Aspirin. I'm thinking that one is genetic; I have an Aunt that's allergic to Aspirin too. 

Remember I was all excited to get my pain med Percocet? The doctor forgot to leave a written prescription in my chart. I took my first luke warm shower after taking one of those pills. While I was finishing up I said, "Isaak go get Dad! Tell him I'm dizzy!" I got out of the shower, was close to the floor, but in my out of it state stood upright, and Travis caught me. He said I was out like a light, and was shaking. Of course everyone had an opinion about why I fainted. My Brother-in-law: She's taking too much! My Aunt: It's from the shower. We give Percocet in the hospital all the time, and no one faints. Now I just take one before bed, or only Tylenol. I've even fainted from prescribed cough syrup before. 

I'm on an antibiotic and probiotics too.

Energy Level:

This morning I was feeling good. I took a shower, made Isaak's bed (it's high up, as I can't bend over), and played Scrabble with Mica. Well during Scrabble Mica was great at first, then a sore looser that swore I sabotaged the game. I was really feeling low on energy. I gave Mica 1/2 my lunch to eat because I still eat like a child. Then I was out like a light! I slept from 1 to 5! 

Lucky for me I have had cuddle buddies!

Mica even read to me:

Friday morning I get my splints out! Then I can use a nasal rinse. YAY! 

Surgery Update

No pictures of my nose as of yet. For 1 they wouldn't let me take anything back with me. My phone had to stay with Travis. For 2 I'm starting to swell up, and don't look the best. I should have taken a picture this morning; it didn't look so swollen then.

My nose is straight now. My nostrils aren't the same, but that's not why I had surgery. Most importantly I can see just fine, and I don't have meningitis. The surgery took about 2 1/2 hours. I guess my septum was really crooked back there. My polyps were bad.

It was an outpatient surgery. I got there at 10:30, had surgery pretty much on time 12:35 or so, and stayed until about 8:30. They were hesitant to let me go because I couldn't go to the bathroom a lot. Did you know under anesthesia that your bladder is the last thing to wake up? I made up for it last night. I drank so much in the hospital to try and go. Ha!

My nose is more sore today than yesterday. The really good drugs have worn off. Travis went to pick up my meds: Antibiotic, Nasal Spray, and Pain Meds. He quickly found out that the pain meds needed a written script. Well the hospital didn't have it on file, and it's Saturday. So I called the doctor on call. He delivered a script to the ER for Travis to pick up. That was a pain, but I'm thankful I got it.

Three things that annoyed me in the hospital:

1. I had to get stuck a few times for the IV. I have such small veins that tend to roll. I have a pretty good bruise on my arm. 


2. They don't carry those little cups of sorbet anymore. God I love those things! I could only eat soft stuff. My top jaw hurts. JELL-O, applesauce, and ice cream was it. 


3. I couldn't wear my Edvard Munch Scream socks. Apparently compression socks win. We wouldn't want any blood clots. I thought the doctors and nurses would get a kick out of my socks if they saw them.

The saline spray helps my nose from getting dried out. It also makes me bleed constantly just a little bit.

The boys spent the night at my sisters last night. They looked at me this morning and said, "Well you don't look that bad." Then when I put the gauze under my nose Isaak said, "That's weird."

I'll be off work for 2 weeks. It's supposed to take a few months to recover.

Random Tid Bits

1. I have one summer school make up class done! Basically the girl that took my Portfolio class didn't show up enough to finish the course out. Instead of taking it all over, she took 5 days to make up some credit hours to get her to pass. We have a system that seems to work. I don't mind summer make up courses for the most part.
   
   It just stinks that students who don't care about their education are in them. College isn't cheap. Utilize your time people! These tend to be the same people that complain about student loan payments. 


2. I'm pre writing this, so right now I'm getting ready for surgery. Yikes!


3. I love to do what I can to help with my health on my own, but sometimes medical people need to step in to help. Recently I joined in a discussion group on facebook. It was with a company I've liked from the get go. I like them so much, that I'm not even going to mention their name.
   
   They had a guest speaker on there that is a meditation and healing councilor: Mas Sajady. Now I'm all for meditation in a relax, let things go kind of a way. But he was pretending to know people. I mentioned my nasal problems. He said, "The girl with the nasal problems has a struggle relationship with her Father." I'm like, Wow he couldn't be more full of bullshit than he is right now. I get along with my Dad great! What I really said on facebook was, "I'm the one with the nasal problems, and I get along with my Dad great."
   
   Of course I was the one that won a special reading with this man. I'm not even going to partake. Has there ever been a person where you're like, They are so full of shi*!?


4. My Brother-in-law Eric was so nice - he buffed my car lights. 12 years of stuff was on them that clouded them all up. He put on some rubbing compound, and buffed it. Now my car can see. :)







5. I've been cleaning up a storm. Just so you know artists are pack rats - most of them any way. I shredded 2 bags of papers, and still have a stack that's overwhelming.  

Happy First Day of Summer!

I like today because it's the first day of summer, it's my birthday, and it's sometimes the day that Father's Day lands on. I like when people say, "Happy Birthday!" and I can say, "Happy First Day of Summer!" right back.

I'm not really doing too much today. We celebrated June birthdays a few weeks ago with my bigger family, and went out for pizza on Father's Day celebrating both on that one day.

I did get this from my Mom:

She got the Succulent Necklace here. 

She also got me some ice packs for my nose, which sort of surprised me. When I asked for them she said, "Just use a bag a peas Alissa. It works better than anything else." The ice packs are nice because they can freeze or heat up. 

Travis gave me a gift card to Dunkin' Donuts. It's newish here, right up the street from work, and I happen to like it. He said, "Whatever you do don't spend it on us. Spend it on you." 

I got myself some bee earrings. 

It kind of came out of the money my Mom gave to me. They were on clearance + 25% off and I liked them. They're hook earrings. They really aren't as big as the picture shows. Earrings are hard to photograph I think. I tried many shots of my ear, but kept cropping them on accident. 

I'm on the cusp. 

Some sources say I'm a Gemini, while others say I'm a Cancer. I never put stock into signs. I think I didn't get into it because I grew frustrated when one source would say I'm one thing, and another source would say I'm something else. I looked it up last night, and I read articles about how being on the cusp is magical. Ha! I'm not so sure I'm magical:

• Strengths: Fun, flirty, curious, intellectual, affectionate, caring, devoted, sensitive and inspirational I guess I'm those things.

• Weaknesses: Moody, overly emotional, scatterbrained, selfish, depressive and self-destructive I've become more scatterbrained in the last few months. I thought it was because of my surgery coming up. Usually I have it together. My husband is more scattered brained than I am. He'd even admit that. I'm sensitive to other's emotions. Like if someone else cries, I might cry too.

• How Gemini-Cancer Work Together: Gemini's speedy and breezy energy combines with Cancer's slower and more thoughtful nature to create people who are both light and bright. Gemini's restlessness is nicely balanced by Cancer's sensitivity, resulting in a well-rounded soul. I like to think of myself as well rounded. When I take a color personality test I get all the colors. 

• What They Love: Great big books about history and philosophy, trying out new recipes, hosting dinner parties and playing with children (after all, they are kids at heart). Yes, yes and yes. Travis makes fun of me for trying new recipes. I love kids overall.

• What They Need: Sensitive and affectionate Gemini-Cancer cuspers need someone to love! Without a special someone to nurture, they can become moody or depressed. I may get depressed when Travis is away a lot. He has this residency right now. While I'm proud of him, I miss him too. I'm odd though because I also enjoy my alone time. 

• Advice: Thicken your skin! I do tend to take things personally. If someone drops off I think it's something I said, or did. In fact I've been known to confront them, and sometimes they just won't respond back. I've apologized before when I didn't know what I did wrong just to open a line of communication. I hate when people don't say, "Goodbye". 

Travis says I seem more like a Cancer. 

What's your sign? Do you believe in signs?

WW: Father's Day and Birthday {Linky}

For Father's Day and my early birthday celebration we went out to a place called Sgt. Peffer's Italian Cafe. It's a little hole in the wall place. They have some Beatles stuff, and play music from that time period.

Their pizza is pretty good!

Then for dinner Travis had Isaak help him in the kitchen.

They made Varna-Style Chicken with rice, and a garden picked kale salad.

#SaveMedicaid #NoCutsNoCaps

I worry about our countries healthcare. Those that need it, aren't getting it. We pay for our own because our works are so small. 

I worry about people like my nephew Emerson that may loose Medicaid. They have helped him with hearing aids, a walker, a wheelchair, therapies and more. 

Trisomy 18 is considered Incompatable With Life in hospitals. My sister did nothing to help him in the beginning. Once he hit 2 months, and was still growing she chose to fight for him. He is showing us that he is Compatible With Life. He's potty trained, can understand yes and no, is happy most of the time, walks, and more. 

I've been emailing and calling my senators to help save Medicaid. There is a list of Senators, and how to get ahold of them here: http://contact411.blogspot.com/2017/05/us-senators-115th-congress.html

You can use my nephew Emerson's story, or a story of someone you know to make them understand how Medicaid has helped. 

Their phones should be ringing off the hook, but people just aren't standing up for those that need it the most. 

If you don't know what to say there are helpful scripts here: https://medicaid.publicrep.org/feature/call/

Thank you so much!

Emerson thanks you too!

Omaha Community Playhouse - Camp 1

The boys are in quite a few camps throughout the summer: 

• Omaha Community Playhouse (theater camp)
• UNO Aim for the Stars (science camp)
• UNO Basketball Camp 
• Hummel Day Camp (outdoor rough and tumble camp)

Some camps around here are less expensive than daycare + more fun. Camps can be written off on taxes like daycare can be.

Last week they started their first camp at Omaha Community Playhouse. 

I don't mean to sound negative, but...

• In the past they had a performance up on stage. They didn't do that this year. A lot of parents didn't know what they were doing, or where to go. 

• Mica said he didn't know what his group was doing at all. 

• My Mom was unable to go down the steps to see Isaak preform. She had Polio, so her legs don't work the best. 

• The boys performed in different spots, so I had to run back and forth from downstairs to upstairs. 

• It seemed like a scattered mess - unfortunately. It's really too bad because the boys actually do have fun at that camp. I've always had great things to say about it. 

Where there's a negative there's a positive, so...

• Isaak's class did seem to have it together. I don't know if his teacher has been there longer, or what the deal was.

• Isaak learned about puppets, which I love. He made a cardboard mask, and worked with shadow puppets.

• Mica's performance was more like a bunch of games. He did learn to project his voice. My parents said that he was easy to hear, and moved around well, which is what they were supposed to do. 

• They enjoyed each day. The camp seemed to wear them out pretty well. They were tired around 8. For summer that's a great thing.

• I think this is the first year they have gotten t-shirts.

I can't say we'll do it again. It's sad because my kids loved it in the past. Isaak's teacher did do well. It just seemed too all over the place this year; with no solid plans.

Isaak's class acted out the story from the book, The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters.

Isaak was the bear in the story. He was all excited about it! He got this mask:

Then his class made shadow puppets. They acted out fairytales. This was The Gingerbread Man. They did the voices behind the puppets as well.

I went up some steps to peek in on Mica's group. They were just playing acting games, but didn't really perform anything. 

This is really the best photo I could get, since I had 2 kids in different spots. I didn't get a good seat.

My parents did say that Mica acted out his exercise really well. I was hoping for more. I think all of us were.

I took photos of the boys with their theater shirts on at The KANEKO Museum that night.

Have you ever been disappointed in something you were once happy with?